Truckie's compo case against Wagner Industrial quashed

A TRUCKIE who had a disc prolapse while working for Wagner Industrial Services at Wacol has not persuaded a court more training would have prevented his injury.

David Allen Beaven appealed an Ipswich District Court decision about a claim for damages for personal injury.

Mr Beaven was injured in 2011 when reaching to open a jammed locking mechanism in his truck's passenger door.

He said he climbed into the cab and tried to pull the unlocking pin with his fingers.

"That didn't work so I reached down under my seat and grabbed a pair of vice grips, attached them to the unlocking pin, give it a couple of tugs and when the pin came loose it gave - the vice grips came off and I fell backwards into my seat, twisted, and then carried on as normal," Mr Beaven told the court.

Judge Deborah Richards accepted that Mr Beaven was honest, and the prolapsed disc was caused in the incident.

But Mr Beaven's damages claim was dismissed largely because Judge Richards said he failed to show any company breach of duty caused his injury.

Mr Beaven was unaware of a latent vulnerability in his back, Judge Richards added.

Mr Beaven had described an alleged failure to train him in basic manual handling techniques and "not to adopt awkward postures" or exert force out at a distance from his body.

Weighing up his appeal, Queensland Supreme Court said there were two main issues.

The first related to training the truckie was given.

The second was whether such training, "assuming that it was not given and ought to have been given", would have prevented the incident.

The courts heard Mr Beaven previously spent eight years in the Army and had training in "how to lift things and how to move" but not much detail was provided.

Mr Beaven had worked at about seven different transport companies over 20 years before starting with Wagner Industrial in 2005.

The Supreme Court said there was no direct evidence about the extent of training Wagner Industrial gave Mr Beaven.

Justice Duncan McMeekin said there was no evidence more risk assessment training would have made Mr Beaven act "any differently than he did on the day in question".